As Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall prepares to hit the free-agent market, he won’t have to worry about his pending lawsuit against an apparel company that dumped him after he made controversial remarks regarding the death of Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks.

The Winston-Salem Journal recently reported that the lawsuit has been settled. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

And while the settlement was mentioned last week in our one-liners, I felt compelled on a relatively slow Tuesday night to address the presumption that the settlement means Mendenhall “won” the case.

It’s common in civil litigation for the details to remain confidential. An unknown amount of money changes hands under the express condition that the specifics never be shared with the media, or anyone else.

But without knowing the amount of the settlement, it’s impossible to know who as a practical matter prevailed. Often, no one does. Indeed, the best settlement is the one that leaves all parties a little pissed off.

Moving forward, the situation won’t make Mendenhall any more attractive to a new team, especially in light of the fact that he’ll be 26 in June and he has had plenty of injuries (including a torn ACL) and he plays a position that features plenty of rookies every year who are healthy and inexpensive and non-controversial.

You know, regardless of what you think of Mendenhall’s comments, it’s pretty shameful how much someone in a ‘free’ country suffers for speaking his mind. He wasn’t out there calling for the deaths of his countrymen, he wasn’t spewing hate against anyone… but he gets treated worse than Pig Ben, who actively hurts his countrymen (or, country WOMEN, rather). Pretty shameful episode.

beerbaron says:Jan 22, 2013 11:58 PM

What he said was pretty dumb, but he’s a Rhodes scholar compared to Te’o.

He has talent!! Something isnt right in the pit. Id like him if we didnt have dixon and hunter, james is better and gore is still rumblin and tumblin even after his knee problems. His heart is huge, i love that dude!
chin up mendenhall, sometimes its just the teams way of pushing you, donate that money and get great PR

What Rash thought was a black helicopter actually appeared to be a crow as it got closer. The government is getting sneakier by the day.

silentcount says:Jan 23, 2013 2:01 AM

After Mendenhall made those idiotic comments, I would not buy any product he had his name on. The company was right to dump him. He has the right to say dumb things, and they have the right to fire him over it. Based on his mental handicap, he should be parking in the special blue spots.

Mendenhall screwed the pooch on this one. In hypersensitive PC America non-mainstream opinions about race and Bin Ladin cannot be discussed by public figures.

Oh yea, and you better stand for the national anthem, Chris Jackson I am looking at you.

Nick Auftyme says:Jan 23, 2013 3:39 AM

It won’t be shocking if he’s out of the league in two years. There’s no team that’s going to sign him to be a starter next year, and like the article says, if you’re just signing a backup, there are cheaper options that are as good or better, and haven’t proven to be annoying and injury-prone.

bobzilla1001 says:Jan 23, 2013 5:43 AM

The Steelers currently have ONE running back under contract: The always dangerous Baron Batch. Might be time for Tomlin to lighten up on Mendenhall and welcome him into the fold. He’s still the team’s best option.

ialwayswantedtobeabanker says:Jan 23, 2013 6:38 AM

I also think Mendenhall’s attractiveness to advertisers is gone too.

In addition to his sub-par play, injury history, likelihood of being let go by a high profile NFL team in free agency and his hot button comments — he now also has shown he has no qualms suing the companies he had previously retained his services.

This only works out well for Mendy if he plays lights out football and learns from the mistakes of others who’ve gone before him, when it comes to voicing incendiary comments.

Hopefully the next headline about Mendenhall will read “Ex Steeler RB”, he was a waste of a high draft pick

crownofthehelmet says:Jan 23, 2013 9:49 AM

Could care less about what he said, I’m just glad he’s leaving cause he sucks at running back.

steelerben says:Jan 23, 2013 10:38 AM

I’m not concerned about him having an opinion. I’m concerned about him dancing around behind the line of scrimmage and losing yards, his fumbling, and his injury issues. I’m worried about his level of commitment to the team when he decided not to show up to the game because he wasn’t going to get to suit up.

It is time to move on from him and bring in a running back that can get the job done. I’m just hoping Lacy falls far enough to grab him.

bobzilla1001 says:Jan 23, 2013 3:24 PM

If you think the Steelers are going to spend a first-round pick on a running back, you better think again.
As for Lacy, that might be a reasonable selection if Alabama actually produced, you know, productive NFL-caliber running backs.